Vasiliy Lomachenko has announced his retirement from boxing after a decorated career that included two Olympic gold medals and professional world titles in three weight classes.
Lomachenko announced his decision with a video on social media Thursday.
“I am grateful for every victory and every defeat, both in the ring and in life,” Lomachenko said. “I’m thankful that as my career comes to an end, I’ve gained clarity about the direction a person must take in order to achieve true victory."
The Ukrainian star burst onto the international boxing scene at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, when the 20-year-old prospect steamrolled the competition. He showed off athleticism, footwork and ring intelligence far beyond his years, clearly marking himself as a once-in-a-generation talent.
But he eschewed the professional sport and returned to win gold at the London Games four years later alongside Oleksandr Usyk, his close friend and the future undisputed professional world heavyweight champion. After going 396-1 as an amateur, Lomachenko finally embarked on a pro career largely spent in the U.S.
Lomachenko won the WBO featherweight title in his third professional fight in June 2014, beating Gary Russell Jr. after ordering his promoters to get him a near-immediate title shot after turning pro. He won the junior lightweight belt in 2016 by stopping Román Martínez, and he added the WBA lightweight world title in 2018, stopping Jorge Linares.
Lomachenko finished his pro career 18-3 with 12 stoppage victories, incurring late-career decision losses to Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney.
“It’s been an honor for all of us at Top Rank to promote the pro boxing career of Vasiliy Lomachenko," said Bob Arum, Lomachenko's U.S. promoter. "He was a generational champion, and we will all miss his participation in the sport.”
Lomachenko paused his career for several months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and he has fought only three times since 2021. He stopped George Kambosos Jr. in the 11th round of his final bout in May 2024.
AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing
FILE - Vasiliy Lomachenko, of Ukraine, celebrates after defeating Guillermo Rigondeaux in a WBO junior lightweight title boxing match in New York, Dec. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)
FILE - Vasiliy Lomachenko, of Ukraine, waits to fight Jamaine Ortiz during a lightweight boxing match, Oct. 29, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
